§ 361.8 - Solicitation of non-legal services.

(a) As part of the solicitation process, vendors and contractors, for non-legal services who submit a completed FDIC “Vendor Application,” Form #3700/13, will be registered in the National Contractor System (NCS), an automated database. The NCS will be available to all FDIC offices involved in contracting activities. The NCS will be utilized to identify qualified MWOBs for inclusion on bid lists.

(b) To ensure that minority and women-owned firms are being included in each solicitation, the solicitation process will include:

(1) Disseminating procedures and information governing FDIC's solicitation rules and policies to MWOBs;

(2) Providing MWOBs technical guidance in the preparation of proposals;

(3) Allowing qualified MWOBs a 3% price advantage and additional technical consideration for competitively bid services; and

(4) Providing post-award technical guidance to unsuccessful MWOBs.